Persephone

XVI

She darted down the black hallways, heart pumping, joy streaming through her veins. He would marry her. He would marry her. They were to be married, he her husband, she his wife. She could not think of anything more sublime.

Her feet slipped over the stone, running faster and faster. He would marry her. He would marry her.

Persephone raised her arms above her head, and let out a most gleeful and startling shriek.

They had stayed in the secret chamber for a while longer, laughing, crying, kissing each other until their mouths were sore. Before Hades laid a hand on her cheek, let out a deeply contented sigh, before placing one last kiss on the goddess's forehead.

"I must go," he mumbled against her skin, fingers twining gently in her hair.

She groaned and buried her face in his neck.

"Why," she whispered, nuzzling closer. She heard his breath catch in his throat, and she smiled.

"Because," he murmured, lifting her head up to look him in the eyes. "I must organise the wedding."

Her heart stopped, and immediately she kissed him one last time, hard, before hopping off the granite table and dragging him along as she laughed in ecstasy. He would marry her. He would marry her.

The goddess skidded to a stop in front of the throne room doors and flung them wide open. Bioluminescent flowers bloomed in her wake as she walked through the world of the dead, and she danced around in circles, staring at the sky.

She heard a whine and looked over before beaming, running towards Cerberus, the ridiculous three-headed dog whom she would not have known had she not come to the realm of the dead. The ground shook as his tail thumped deafeningly behind him, and she covered one of his fleshy ears with her small, delicate palms. The dog's ears were twice the size.

"Hello my darling," she cooed, stroking him softly. She leaned in closer and bumped her forehead to his middle head.

"Guess what," she whispered playfully, and Cerberus stopped his wagging for a moment for three sets of eyes to look into her single pair. She grinned.

"I'm staying forever."

The ground began to quake again and the dog jumped up and licked her face all over as the goddess laughed. The behemoth tongue of the middle head covered her face entirely, and she had to push him away to catch her breath. She giggled hysterically at the display of affection and continued to entertain herself and her dear friend.

She could not have said how long they spent together, as time always passed differently with no sun to measure the days, but it was much more than a few minutes later when the stamping of hooves behind her caught her attention. She turned, halfway through incapacitating Cerberus with belly-rubs, and saw Orphnaeus standing tall and proud.

"My lady," he muttered in a gravelly voice, and she took her hands away from Cerberus's chest, to which he whimpered loudly.

"My lady, his lord Hades requests your presence in the γνομει δώμα."

Persephone looked back to her furry friend, who was staring fixedly at the horse and had begun to growl, before nodding and kissing the nearest head.

"I will be back!" she yelled, mounting the stallion and blowing a kiss to the dog. He cried, but eventually sat back down and put his heads on his paws, intent on waiting until his mistress returned.

Orphnaeus trotted through the winding corridors, and the floor to ceiling holes that acted as windows showed a dizzying array of serenity. Persephone leaned further and further from the horse to see more clearly a group of naiads splashing each other playfully and shrieking happily as they themselves were doused in the river. Persephone smiled and then gasped as she nearly fell off of the stallion and out of the window - the only thing that stopped her was Orphnaeus' quick instincts in leaping back to the wall before the goddess could tumble down into the darkness. He turned around to look at her, brow furrowed, and she tsked.